Strategic Sacrifice: How to Manage Competing Priorities in Your Organization & in Your Life

Impact. Culture. Money.

These are the three corners of what my guest this week, Isabelle Moses, calls the Triangle of Tension.

If you are grappling with whether to prioritize purpose, wellbeing, or financial stability — whether in your personal life or your organization — you're probably familiar with this tension, even if you've never named it this way.

Impact is what you do and why you do it. Mission. Purpose. Calling.

Culture is how you do what you do. Personal and collective wellbeing. Relationships.

Money is about the flow of income and expenses. Sustainability. Stewarding resources.

Perhaps different parts of yourself have different opinions about prioritizing different things. Or perhaps different people or teams within your organization or group are advocating for different things — some people want to prioritize employee wellbeing, for example, while others are stressed about money.

Given current social realities, it can be really hard to prioritize more than two of these at a time. We usually have to sacrifice one. And choosing can be painful. But delaying difficult choices is usually, ultimately, much harder.

If you feel stuck right now — discerning your personal next steps or navigating a conflict with other people about where your work is headed together — shining light on the Triangle of Tension can help.

So can all of the many practices that Isabelle shared in this episode of the Conflict Decoded podcast: Strategic Sacrifice: How to Manage Competing Priorities in Your Organization & Life.

About Isabelle Moses

Isabelle Moses is Partner and Head of Consulting with Brava Leaders. She specializes in supporting leaders, teams, and organizations to create the conditions for joy and thriving — both internally and in their externally facing work.